Improving your leadership impact seems simple. The ideas are simple. The practice is simple. The methods are simple. However, given the uncommon nature of great leadership, it's fair to say that something is missing. That's because great leadership is simple, but it isn't easy.

Here we share four simple ideas that you can put into practice to improve your impact in 2021. These are our lessons from the front of the room: concepts formed over 15 years of working with leaders from different organizations and cultures. Warning: the ideas may seem simple, but it will take effort, intention, and focus to put them to work for you.

1. Make the Room Better
Is the room better when you walk in, or when you walk out? As a leader, you either make a room better when you walk in, or you make it better when you walk out. Which type of leader are you?

If you walk in and people get excited, if they open up and start to share more ideas, if they clamor for your attention to hear your thoughts on their ideas, or if you bring traction and energy to their ideas, then the room is better when you walk in.

If you walk in and people get quiet, if they defer to your ideas, stop sharing, stop taking risks, if their comments serve only to protect themselves and minimize any potential negative exposure, then the room is better when you leave.

Think about the best boss you ever worked for. What happened when she walked into a meeting? Likely, ideas flowed more naturally, people felt heard, and problems were solved collaboratively. Think about the worst boss you ever had. Chances are when she walked into the room people got quiet. Everyone was on edge, waiting to see which way the wind was blowing that day.

Do whatever you need to do to make sure the room is better when you walk in.

2. Embrace Your Humanity. Become “Radically Human”
2020 was the year we learned to drop the façade. We joined Zoom calls from our kitchens, with kids screaming in the background and cats walking in front of our cameras. In 2020 we saw each other as more than human resources: we saw each other as resourceful humans. We adapted, and we learned to like the authenticity of it. Work attire became less formal; many of us discovered our productivity went up with our increased autonomy, and we learned not to fear showing up for a zoom meeting in a t-shirt or without makeup. We showed our imperfections to the world and discovered that it was OKAY.

We are entering 2021 with a new appreciation of each other as human beings. Organizations will embrace radical humanity and the leaders who make the most impact will be those who learn to be vulnerable and accept their human imperfections with their teams.

We are learning that when we are vulnerable with each other we no longer spend precious resources managing our "image": we accept ourselves as perfectly imperfect, and we invite others to do the same.

As a leader, you can accelerate this change in 2021 by role modeling vulnerability and humanity. Start by being honest about your weaknesses. This requires self-awareness and self-acceptance. When we know and embrace our imperfections, we dare to share them with others. And this sharing enables others to do the same. As we become more open and human with each other, our freedom to share ideas, experiment, and innovate increases. Our willingness to admit mistakes and ask for help. All things that contribute to a richer, more productive work environment.

This focus on being radically human will grow as organizations see the benefits of an open, inclusive and trusting workplace. As a leader, go first. Role model vulnerability and humanity, and see what emerges.

3. Learn to Listen. Really, Really Listen.
Most of us are terrible listeners. We think we are great listeners, but we aren't. We listen to respond. We listen to judge. We listen to agree or we listen to disagree. We listen to our agenda. And usually, we listen for our opportunity to start talking. But we rarely, if ever, just listen with curiosity. To listen simply is to honour the other person's existence. To let them know we see them, they matter, and their words and ideas have value.

Practice this: the next time you are talking to someone, notice how many times you judge what they are saying, or interrupt them. Then, try again. Don't interrupt. Resist the urge to judge. Don't share a perspective, or a witty comment, or try to fix the issue. Just show them that you heard what they said. Acknowledge their thoughts, ideas, worries, and aspirations. Don't try to fix, solve, improve, synthesize or summarize.
Show you heard them, nothing more or less. And notice what happens to them.

You will learn two things: one, how incredibly difficult it is to listen like this. To let go of our own agenda, plans, judgments, and wants. To simply see the other and honour their experience. And two, you will learn the incredible power that we hold in our hands every time we pay attention. We listen and we learn. And we connect.

4. Effort Give Way To Existence
Human beings are highly evolved animals that exist as part of the natural world. Learning to see ourselves as a part of, not separate from, nature opens up beautiful opportunities for acceptance. We are part of nature and we are exactly as we should be.
Accept this indisputable fact about yourself, then accept it about your family, your partner, your children, your neighbours, your allies, and especially your enemies. Accept it about every living being that inhabits this earth. We are part of the natural world. We grow, we change, we develop. And eventually, we die as do all living things.

In this acceptance lies freedom: the freedom to exist, nothing more or less, because that is what life does. Effort gives way to existence, as with all living things.